England’s Historic Cities come to life through new augmented reality

England’s Historic Cities augmented reality project infuses a digital dimension into England’s heritage attractions, giving an experience that brings new stories to life through the power of technology.

England’s Historic Cities are a collection of 13 cities that have globally significant moments in time from England’s history.

These cities cover the breadth and length of England from Canterbury to Durham and Salisbury to Carlisle. They offer diverse experiences and all of them are well connected via rail, making it easy for tourists to travel to more than one at a time.

To give a new perspective to the travelers experience they have fused history with the digital era with the development of an innovative augmented reality (AR) app that brings heritage to life. The brand-new augmented reality app and videos transport visitors back in time to unveil the hidden lives of history’s most fascinating characters.

It also unlocks ancient history; like at Chester’s amphitheatre where a 360˚ 3D reconstruction shows the brutal side of a working amphitheatre and at Carlisle’s Tullie House Museum’s viewing rotunda you can look down through the app to a reconstructed Roman fort.

It gives never seen before insight; like in Durham where the app will let you see through walls to locations used in the Harry Potter films, which are not accessible, by the public or why William Shakespeare is connected to one of the most productive oil fields in US history.

The app also promises to inspire a younger generation who might not see the relevance in history to their own lives.
In Bath, it takes the visitor through Ancient Trolling where the equivalent of cyber bullying occurred with curse tablets created to shame criminals in front of the goddess.

Nicola Said, Commercial Director at Marketing Cheshire, who has delivered the project on behalf of the Historic Cities, said: ‘This is one of the most exciting projects I have worked on – a true marrying of old and the new and a completely innovative way to inspire an increasingly digital world to take a step back into the past. Watching people from all around the world take pleasure in England’s glorious; captivating history using today’s most used technology is encouraging. It will enable all the cities in question to be able to reach new audiences and showcase the iconic cultural heritage we have to offer.’

The app ‘England’s Historic Cities’ is available to download for free in Google Play, on the app store.